Choose Originality
Why it's rarely a good idea to chase trends and jump on bandwagons
💡 If you need help deciding which of your ideas to pursue, and identifying the ones that have come to you for the wrong reasons – whether you're a writer, entrepreneur, or anything else – keep reading.
A very popular Instagrammer for fiction writers published a post this week that I’ve been thinking about a lot. And it didn’t only interest me from the perspective of a writer, but as a marketer and the owner of a small consultancy business as well.
The premise of this post was: “Four writing tips I don’t listen to anymore.”
I was really shocked by one of the pieces of advice this person says they no longer listen to.
But not because they don’t listen to it anymore. Rather, that they’d even entertain it as worth mentioning, because surely no one gives this as advice to fiction writers?
This piece of advice was: “Write whatever is trending.”
For a fiction writer, this is absolutely horrible advice.
So, my initial reaction was to ask why anyone would even need to be told to ignore this tip in the first place?
Well, from my vantage point, that’s a fair reaction, because I’ve been writing fiction for over 15 years. I’ve also got a creative writing MA under my belt, which was taught by some very talented published authors.
So, I can say confidently that, as a fiction writer (we’ll get on to entrepreneurs and others in a moment), you should absolutely not write a book based on what’s trending.
Instead, you should tell the story that you have the deepest and most meaningful connection with, based on your unique experiences, perspectives, and interests.
Why is that?
Because that will be the best, most original story you can possibly tell.
Trying to write a fiction novel purely to capitalise on what’s popular right now is a terrible idea. If you take that approach, the resulting book probably isn’t going to be authentic, or unique, or particularly interesting.
More importantly, though, writing a good novel is fucking hard, and takes way longer than most writers anticipate. So, you have the significant risk of the trend moving on by the time you’re finished.
But as I’ve been thinking about this more and more this week, I realised that it can take some writers a long time to understand this.
For beginners, or people who haven’t yet found their creative identity, I can actually see why they might follow this advice, for two main reasons:
It feels like it will be easier, not only to sell books to an audience, but to write the story. It gives you a pre-built template of what your story needs to be.
It also relieves you of the vulnerability involved with telling the unique stories only you can tell.
This is absolutely how many agents and publishers make decisions about which books to buy and sell.
This is why I think we need to explore the issue beyond the context of writing fiction.
Is Originality Becoming Impossible to Maintain in Modern Media and Content?
Making creative and commercial decisions based on popular trends is nothing new. But due to the rise of social media, digital marketing, data-driven algorithms, and an economy where people’s attention is the most valuable asset, it feels like this is getting out of control.
The rules that determine what content or media is successful today are based on algorithms, and that’s badly harming originality and creativity.
People are increasingly tailoring their content, behaviour, thinking, and personalities based on the temporary trends of the moment. They do this because they want to be seen and heard, and the algorithm controls that.
Ironically, though, when everyone is pursuing those same trends, they simply blend in with the crowd.
The outcome of this?
Firstly, everyone ends up producing the same kind of content, making it difficult to maintain originality.
Secondly, in most cases, the quality of people’s content is drastically reduced because they’re not pursuing these ideas for the right reasons. In more blunt terms, they aren’t coming up with their own ideas.
Creatively, they’re doing what they think the masses (and the algorithms) want, not what they want to do.
How Does This Apply to B2B Writing?
Let’s look at LinkedIn as a good example outside of fiction writing.
This is an interesting comparison.
In my opinion, fiction writers should always write for themselves, not an audience. In B2B writing, on the other hand, you absolutely should be basing your content on what your target audience wants, rather than your own interests.
However, B2B companies, marketers, and writers still need to choose the audience they’re targeting based on their specific expertise, experience, and ability to serve a market.
For instance, lots of people are interested in AI right now. It’s the biggest trending topic in the world. But if you have an extensive amount of knowledge about property development, and no idea how AI works, which of those two topics will you have more success writing about, even if one is more trendy than the other?
That’s fine for the topics you write about. What about style, voice, and technique? Well, let’s look at another example.
There are a million LinkedIn coaches out there right now whose business is based on teaching people how to become “successful” by writing on LinkedIn.
But if you think about how they’re doing this, you start to see deeper into the problem.
These people have mastered the art of writing in a certain way to gain maximum reach and exposure on the social media platform.
Their writing is designed to get tonnes of impressions, likes, follows, and so on.
But the majority of these people teach others to do exactly the same as them:
Pander to the algorithm
Write using the same formula
Use the templates everyone else uses
Follow the popular trends and patterns
Make money by coaching people to do the same.
Most of these coaches are coaching people to become coaches for the same sort of target audiences.
What’s the consequence of this? Well, it looks a lot like a pyramid scheme.
They’re all diluting the value that can be gained from the platform, saturating the market, and making all the content on LinkedIn look exactly the same.
That’s without even mentioning the fact that most of these people are also using AI to generate most of their content, which reduces the originality even further.
As this continues, people who are brave enough to stick to a style and approach that’s authentic to them will prevail in the long-run, I think.
Ok, there may be less virality in writing in your own unique voice, but it will make you more relatable and personable. It will also help you stand out in the right way — by being original.
It may give you shorter reach in the short-term, but it will help you build more meaningful connections with a more relevant audience in the long-term, which should be the goal any way.
It’s No Different When Starting a Business
Looking at the example in a business context is also interesting.
I’ve been doing a lot of work on my own marketing consultancy business recently, trying to get better at positioning myself and resonating with my target audience more effectively.
Based on everything I’ve learned, I think a similar principle applies to anyone who’s looking for an idea to start a business:
Don’t start thinking about what trendy thing you could sell to people.
Think about the problems people have that you’re uniquely suited to solve.
If you want to start a business, you could probably have a decent amount of success by copying trends and jumping on bandwagons. Plenty of people have done that in the past.
But it wouldn’t be an original idea unique to your specific skills and knowledge. As a result, you’re likely to enter a saturated market, and face a much harder challenge connecting with relevant customers.
If, instead, you found an idea that brings together your experience and expertise to solve an important problem for people, that’s a far stronger position to be in as an entrepreneur.
Tell the ‘Story’ Only You Can Tell
Ultimately, whatever context you look at this in, the point is that you should always try to tell the ‘stories’ only you can tell.
It’s so important to understand that the best chance everyone has of producing something special – whether you’re an author, an artist, or an entrepreneur – is to pursue the ideas that are most meaningful, personal, and unique to you.
Ok, if you’re a fiction writer whose priority is to sell a lot of books, writing a story that’s trendy might give you a better chance of being picked up by an agent.
Or will it?
If you think about the creative process, writing something just because it’s on-trend (and just because you want to make a lot of money) is counter-productive.
In that scenario, you’re pursuing an idea that came to you for the wrong reasons.
So, yes, it might give you a more attractive pitch to your agent (if you time it well enough), but that overlooks a crucial factor – books need to be really, really good in order to be successful. That’s more important than fitting the current trends.
So does an idea for a business, and most other things in life, for that matter.
Copying whatever’s trending probably isn’t going to produce your best work. It’s going to result in something that’s unoriginal, lacking authenticity.
When you write what’s most meaningful and unique to you, you’ll tell a far better story overall.
Oddly enough, that’s what really matters to most readers — reading a great story.
This Week’s Sunset of the Week
Twickenham has looked like something out of a fantasy novel in recent weeks.
The section of the Thames between Twickenham Riverside and Eel Pie Island has become one of my favourite places to watch the sun go down.
This Week’s Song-on-Repeat
When I first heard this song back in 2007, it instantly became one of my favourites at the time.
Listening to it again this week for the first time in around a decade, it still has the same impact.